News
Release: 1-Nov-2003
SOURCE: Writing Center, University of Houston
Contact: Dr. Julie Chisholm 217 Agnes Arnold Hall,
Houston, Texas 77204
713-743-2722
kaui@uh.edu
University
of Houston Writing Center to Host Online, 3-D Intercultural Educators’ Summit
Meeting, Highlighted by Presentation from Noted Author, Historian, and PBS
Host/Producer James Burke
HOUSTON—November
1, 2003—The Writing Center at the University of Houston (Main Campus) will host
and participate in, via 3-D chat, an international education summit meeting
highlighted by James Burke, of PBS “Connections” fame on November 21,
2003. The conference, sponsored by
the Intercultural Educators Alliance (IEA) and the Society for Intercultural
Education, Training and Research (SIETAR), will be held live at the University
of Houston and University of Texas at Austin.
From Paris, Burke will deliver a keynote address on the importance of
emerging technologies in global communication and research, via a Multi-User,
Virtual Environment (MUVE). Burke’s
online figure, or avatar, will appear in a specially created educational
“universe” and Burke’s voice will be transmitted via voice-over chat software. His speech will be viewed and heard in over
twenty countries worldwide. During the
conference, from the UH Writing Center, honors students from the Conrad N.
Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management will act as ushers and
information guides for Burke and other international participants in the online
universe. Their avatars will wear
University of Houston colors and Hilton College uniforms. “This is a great opportunity for UH students
and teachers to see what is on the horizon for education and global
communication,” said Marjorie Chadwick, director of the Writing Center. “The Writing Center is proud to play a key
role in this important event.” The
Writing Center (Agnes Arnold Hall, Room 216) will be open to the public from
5-8 p.m. on November 21, and will broadcast Burke’s keynote address in large
format. The public will be able to
watch the Hilton College students’ online interaction with conference
participants from Cornell; Harvard; University of California, Santa Cruz; Hame
Polytechnic, Finland; Haags Montessori Lyceum, Netherlands; Fachhochschule Kaiserslautern Standort
Zweibrücken, Germany; Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands;
Mitthogskolan, Department of Informational Technology, Sweden; Universidade Católica De Pelotas, Brasil;
Universidade Comunitária do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil; Universita Degli Studi Di Milano, Italy;
University College London, United Kingdom;
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Universidad Nacional de la Plata,
Argentina; Universidad Blas Pascal, Argentina; and Universidad De Las Americas,
Mexico, among others.
About the Writing Center
at the University of Houston
The Writing Center is a multidisciplinary
hub for research, teaching and learning at the University of Houston. It leads university efforts in
developmental, ESL, discipline-specific and technology-enhanced writing
pedagogies.
Figure 1: James Burke, in avatar form